Manually removable bottle cap



1964 1:..1. BROCKHAGE 3, ,5 5

HANUALLY REMOVABLE BOTTLE CAP Filed April 20, 1962' 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 'IIIII/III WIIIIIIIIIIIAV lTTOR/VEYS' 1964 D. J. BROCKHAGE MANUALLY REMOVABLE BOTTLE CAP Filed April 20, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

lNl/ENTOR [Jo/wan J BROCK/MGE ATTORNEYJ' United States Patent 3,121,506 MANUALLY REMOVABLE BO'ITLE CAP Donald J. Brockhage, 2711 23rd Ave., Oakland, Calif. Filed Apr. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 190,849 14 Claims. (Cl. 215-46) This invention relates to that type of bottle cap known as a crown cap, and is particularly directed to such a cap provided with manually operable means for releasing the tension across the top of the cap whereby the holding without the use of a tool, such attempts have been variously unsatisfactory in that the caps are either too difficult to remove or will not hold pressure for an extended period of time. These previous cap designs have generally been of two basic types, both of which depend upon a substantially direct manual application of force to the corrugated gripping flange to effect expansion and release thereof. More specifically, in one type of manually removable cap, one or more levers are integrally extended from the underside of the flange whereby the flange may be directly pried away from the bead or crown of the bottle. A substantial amount of prying force is required, however, to remove a cap of this type. In the other basic type of cap design a depressible dome or the like is provided in the upper surface of the cap such that upon depression of the dome, the peripheral portions of the cap including the flange are expanded outwardly to counteract the depression. In order to render this latter type of cap releasable in response to normal thumb pressure, the dome must bequite flexible and hence is susceptible to accidental opening during normal handling procedures. Moreover the holding power of this type of cap tends to yield to internal bottle pressure after an extended period of time.

In order to overcome these difficulties of previous manually removable crown caps, I have provided an improved cap in which release of the bottle gripping flange is effected by a selective release of the tension inherently existing across the top of the cap in establishing the gripping action of the flange. More particularly I have provided a crown cap having provision for the manual inducement of bending stress in the top thereof in addition to the tensile stress therein, the bending stress being readily overcome by the tension across the top of the cap to thereby release the holding power of the flange.

It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved manually removable crown cap in which release is provided by relief of tension inherently existing across the top of the cap.

' Another object of the invention is the provision of a manually removable crown cap which, while being capable of holding a high internal bottle pressure, requires so little for'c'e toelfect opening that a bottle can be readily opened with one hand. 7 a I Yet another object of the .inventiorris to provide a bottle cap of the class described which in various embodi- A merits thereof can be applied to bottles with a substantially conventional capper.

It is a further object of the invention to provide atcr own cap having a pleated section in its top for selectively inducing bending stresses therein which readily yield to the tensionthereacross with the released tension effecting expansion of the cap flange away from the crown of a bottle.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a manually operable pleated release section in the top of a crown cap which may be configured so as to not interfere with the flow of the cap through all stages of existing capping machinery designed for use with ordinary crown caps.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a cap of the class described including a pleated release section which may be embodied with an upper wall in parallelism with the top wall proper of the cap and a depending release lever tab conforming to the peripheral flange of the cap and which has a lower edge in the same plane as the bottom edge of 'the flange prior to application of the cap to a bottle.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide a cap of the type noted in the previous object wherein the lever tab is displaced during a capping operation to a position wherein its lower edge is beneath the lower edge of the flange.

A further object of. the invention is to provide a bottle cap of the class described wherein means may be included to prohibit undue crushing of the pleated release section during a capping operation.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following descripiton of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the crown cap of the present invention secured to the crown of a bottle.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken at line 22 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken at line 33 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 2, but with the cap released from the crown of the bottle.

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view similar to FIGURE 3 but with the cap released as in FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of a modified form of the I crown cap.

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view taken at line 7-7 of FIGURE 6.

FIGURE 8 is a form of the cap.

FIGURE 9 is a plan view of yet another modified form of the cap.

FIGURE 10 is a sectional view taken at line 1010 of FIGURE 9.

FIGURE 11 is a plan view of still another modified form of the cap.

FIGURE 12 is an elevation view of the modified cap of FIGURE 11.

FIGURE 13 is a sectional view taken at line 13-13 of FIGURE 11. v 7

FIGURE 14 is a sectional view taken at line 14-14 of FIGURE 11.

FIGURE 15 is a sectional view taken at line 1515 of FIGURE 11 and with the cap positioned on a bottle and engaged by a capping head at the outset of a capping operation.

FIGURE 16 is a view similar to FIGURE 15, but with the cap in operative engagement with the crown of the bottle at the termination of the capping operation.

' Considering now the invention'in some detail and referring to the illustratedforms thereof in the drawing, there is provided an improved crown cap 11 which comprises the usually substantially flat or slightly convex uppersurface or top 12, and a corrugated flange 13 depending therefrom. In the sealed attachment of the cap perspective view of another modified 11 to a bottle such as that designated in part at 14, the

lower portion of the flange is forced inwardly under the bead or crown 16 of the bottle in the usual manner by a capping machine. -In addition the usual flexible sealing gasket 17 is provided on the underside of the top 12, and also if desired a pressure tight sealing disc 17 may be utilized to supplement the gasket 17.

The structure so far described is merely that of a conventional crown cap wherein the sealing disc and flange forced under the crown into tight gripping relation therewith provide an effective seal capable of holding the high internal bottle pressure encountered with bottles containing carbonated beverages and the like without leakage. Unlike conventional crown caps which require a bottle opener to pry the flange away from the bead or crown in order to effect removal of the cap, however, the cap 11 of the present invention is provided with manually operable release means 18 whereby the cap can be readily removed directly by hand. Moreover, unlike the release means of previous manually removable bottle cap structure, the release means 18 is of such a nature that the application of but a slight thumb pressure is required to release the cap 11 from a bottle. Also unlike many previous manually removable caps, the excellent pressure holding capabilities of a conventional crown cap are retained in the manually removable cap 11 of the present invention.

The unique release means 18 utilizes to great advantage the tension inherently established diametrically across the top of a cap and through its flange upon the forcing of the latter under the crown of a bottle as the principal force for effecting release of the cap. More specifically, the tension in the cap 11 is in such a direction as to oppose the clamping force which maintains the flange 13 in engagement with the crown of a bottle. This tension hence tends to urge the flange 13 out of clamping engagement with the bottle but is prevented from doing so by virtue of the tension being of insuflicient magnitude to overcome the tensile strength of the cap. Were the tension released, the cap flange would lose its holding power, and this is what is facilitated by the release means 18.

The release means 18 is arranged to introduce a bending stress to the top 12 of the cap 11 upon the application of thumb pressure to the release means. As is well 'known, bending stress is more readily overcome than tensile stress. Consequently the bending stress induced in the top of the cap is overcome by the tension thereacross, 'whereas prior to the introduction of bending stress the over-all tensile stress across the top and the release means is of suflicient proportions to withstand the tension. Another way of looking at the release action of release means 18 is that the tensile strength of the cap top is weakened by the bending to a sufficient extent that the top yields to the tension. I In any event, in response to a slight thumb pressure applied to the release means 18, the stresses in the cap are released to thereby force the flange 13 out of engagement with the crown of the bottle.

Broadly stated, the release means 18, as embodied in the various specific configurations subsequently described herein, comprises a pleated integral section of the top 12 of the cap. The pleated section includes a top portion which bridges an opening in the 'cap top 12, and side wall structure, at least a portion of which is pleated or folded relative to the top portion," integrally interconnecting the top portion to the cap top in enclosing relation to the opening. Upon application of'thumb pressure to the pleated release section in a direction tending to unfold the pleats thereof, the bending stress. generated at the pleats causes the over-all cap top to yield to..the tension thereacross.

The release means 18 as illustrated in the embodiment of FIGURES 1 to preferably comprises a pleated section 19 which extends diametrically across the top 12 of cap 11. More explicitly, the pleated section 19 includes a flat upper portion 21 which extends across the top 12 from a location spaced outwardly from the periphery of flange 13 and tapers to substantially a point 22 at a location spaced slightly inward from a diametrically opp site portion of the flange periphery. In addition the projecting end of upper portion 21 is upwardly spaced from the cap top 12 and downwardly inclined in the direction of point 22 to merge with the top thereat. Pleated section 19 further includes reentrant side portions 23 and 24- which are oppositely inclined from the s de edges of upper portion 21 towards a diametric part 26 in the cap top 12 and which constitutes the previously mentioned opening in the instant embodiment. The side portions 23 and 24 then respectively merge with the portions of the cap top on opposite sides of the part 26 and are in abutment thereat as best shown in FIGURE 3. The pleated section 19 is formed integrally with the remainder of the cap 11 such that reentrant bends 27, 28, 29 and 3-1 are respectively defined between the top 12 and side portions 23 and 24 and between the side portions and upper portion 21.

When the cap 11 is in locked position upon the bottle 14 as depicted in FIGURES 1 to 3. the flange 13 is forced into engagement with the underside of the crown 16. At this time the lower ends of side portions 23 and 24 of pleated section 19 at their reentrant bends 27 and 28 on opposite sides of part 26 are in abutment as shown in FIG- URE 3. The tension across the top of cap 11 cannot overcome the tensile strength of the cap top proper, tensile strength of upper portion 21 of pleated section 19, and compressive strength of side portions 22 and 23 of pleated section 19. Thus the cap is locked upon the bottle.

To remove the cap from the bottle, the user merely grasps the neck of the bottle in one hand and with the thumb applies an upward force to the projecting end of upper portion 21 of pleated section 19. Such action initiates bending at the reentrant bends 27, 28, 29,and 31 of the pleated section with a resultant increase in the angles between the bends as depicted in FIGURES 4 and -5. The bending inlcombination with the tension across the cap top induces bending stress at the bends 27, 28, 29, and 31 which is readily overcome by the tension. The tension is thus released to expand the cap flange 13 out of engagement with the crown of the bottle.

Various departures from the embodiment of the inven tion just described are possible and in this connection one modified form of the release means 18 is depicted in FIGURES 6 and 7. As shown therein the release means is provided as a pleated section 32 of somewhat difierent configuration than the section 19 previously described. More particularly, the section 32 includes an upper portion 33 that is substantially rectangular and is upwardly inclined from a location 34 spaced slightly inward from the periphery of the flange l3 and extending diametrically across the cap top 12. Instead of the diametric part 26 of the previous embodiment, a triangular aperture 36 is provided in the cap top beneath portion 33 and extends from substantially location 34 to an apex 37 disposed adjacent the periphery of the cap flange 13. Oppositely inclined side portions 39 and 41 of the pleated section 32 merge smoothly with the portions of the cap top on opposite sides of the aperture 36 and define reentrant bends 42 and 43 therewith. In addition, the side portions 39 and 41 merge with the upper portion 33 in defining reentrant bends 44 and 46, which bends are not smoothly mergipgpbut-aather include upright reinforcing portions 47 and 48. These reinforcing portions 47 and 48 eliminate any tendency of the pleated section to be deformed during'at'tachmei'it of the cap to a bottle by a capping machine. The release operation of the instant embodiment is substantially identical to that described hereinbefore. i

Considering now another modified form of the manually removable crown cap, it is to be noted that the upper portion of the pleated sections of either of the embodimen-ts already described may be provided at their projecting ends with a thumb operated lever to reduce the amount of thumb pressure required to effect release of the cap. As depicted in FIGURE 8 such a lever is incorporated with a cap in accordance with the embodiment of FIGURES 1 to 5. More specifically the projecting end of upper portion 21 of pleated section 19 is provided with a depending lever arm 49 which has an outwardly turned lip 51 at its lower end. The portion of flange 13 adjacent the lever arm is cut away as shown at 52 such that the lever arm fills the space and is substantially coextensive with the flange. By virtue of this disposition of the lever arm, a conventional capping machine may be employed to apply the cap to a bottle.

Yet another modification of the embodiment of FIG- URES '1 to 5 is illustrated in FIGURES 9 and 10 to the end of limiting excessive depression of the pleated section 19 during the capping operation. As shown in the figures, the depression limiting means are preferably provided as several protuberances such as bumps 53 in the cap top 12 in underlying relation to the inclined side portions 23 and 24 of the pleated section. When the cap is applied to a bottle, the pleated section 19 may be depressed as far as the uppermost point of the bumps 53, but no further, the bumps withstanding a substantial amount of force.

A further modified form of the manually releasable cap structure is illustrated in FIGURES 11 to 17, this form being particularly adapted to use with conventional capping machinery of the type designed for ordinary crown cap service. More particularly in conventional capping machines; various stages thereof such as the selector mechanism and capping stage require for their proper operation caps which have an upper surface parallel to the bottom edge of the flange. In addition uniformity about the bottom edge and peripheral surface of the flange is required. To these ends the release means of the present embodiment of the cap comprises a pleated section 54 which has a flat top wall 56 in parallelism with the cap top 12. Preferably the wall 56 is of generally Y-shaped configuration disposed in aligned relation to a diameter of the cap top with its split legs 57, 58 on opposite sides of the diameter. The base 59 of the Y- shaped wall extends outwardly over an end section of the diameter and is downwardly turned at substantially 90 to provide a lever tab 61 which fills a cut-away portion 62 of the cap flange 13. The tab is preferably conformed to the round periphery of the flange so as to be uniform therewith. The lower edge 63 of the tab,

moreover, is preferably terminated on the same plane as the bottom edge of the flange and may be advantageously provided thereat with an outwardly turned lip 64. It will thus be appreciated that the top wall 56 of the pleated section satisfies the previously noted requisites for use in conventional capping machinery.

The split legs 57, 58 of the pleated section top wall 56 overlie a substantially V-shaped opening 66 in top wall 12 comprised of slots 67, 68 intersecting adjacent the margin of the top wall 12 at a position beneath the base 59 of top wall 56. Side wall structure integrally connects the top wall 56 to the top wall 12 at the edges of the opening 66 and in enclosing relation therewith. In the present instance the side wall structure includes vertical walls 69, 71 which extend between the inner reentrant side edges of the intersecting slots 67, 68 in the top wall 12 and the inner reentrant side edges of the legs 57, 58 of the top wall 56. Walls 69, 71 merge together in a curved section 72 at their intersection. In addition vertical walls 73, 74 merge with walls 69, 71 and extend between the end edges of the slots and end edges of the legs. It is of importance to note that the curved vertical wall section 72 and walls 73, 74 are positioned to directly overlie the crown 16 of a bottle 14 when placed thereon (see FIGURE Such walls thus insure that the top wall 56 of the pleated section maintains its parallelism with the primary top wall 12 of the cap dur' g its route through capping machinery. Also the verzilal walls as so positioned prohibit undue crushing of the pleated section during the actual capping operation.

The side wall structure of the pleated section is completed by outer side walls 76, 77 which integrally interconnect the outer side edges of the legs 57, 58 to the outer edges of the slots 67, 68. The outer side walls are joined at their common intersection at a position underlying the base 59 of the top wall 56. The outer side walls also merge smoothly with the vertical side walls 73, 74. It is to be noted that the outer side walls 76, 77 are inclined inwardly from the outer side edges of the legs 57, 58 to define reentrant bends 78, 79 therewith. The bends terminate along diagonal fold lines 81, 82 wherefrom the outer side walls then extend vertically downward into connection with the cap top 12 adjacent the outer edges of the slots. The fold lines are upwardly inclined from the common intersection of the side walls in the direction of the vertical side walls 73, 74. Thus the extent of the reentrant bends 78, 79 varies from substantially no bend at the vertical walls 73, 74 to a maximum at their common intersection as will be evident from FIGURES l3 and 14.

It is of particular importance to note that the lever tab 61 which is conformed to the cap flange 13 in the manner previously noted changes position when the cap is sealed upon a bottle. More particularly when the capper head 83 of a capping machine engages the cap flange 13 and lever tab 61 and continues its downward stroke to force the flange under the crown of a bottle as depicted in FIGURE 16, the tab is not forced under the crown but rather is extended vertically downward in length. The lower edge of the tab is now on a plane beneath that of the flange.

Such extension is due partially to a slight controlled compression of the pleated section in being engaged by the capper head 83. A greater contributing factor, however, is that the base 59 of the pleated section upper wall is relatively unsupported in the region of the bend from which the lever tab extends. More particularly the bend is disposed outwardly from the vertical wall section 72 which derives support from the bottle crown 16. Accordingly when the capper head 83 moves downwardly it tends to somewhat crush the bend and changes its curvature from a small radius (FIGURE 15) to a large radius (FIGURE 16). The lever tab is thus extended downward.

To remove the cap it is only necessary to urge the tab 61 upwardly. The entire upper wall 56 of the pleated section is consequently urged upward. The reentrant bends 78, 79 and folds 81, 82 thus tend to be straightened and bending stress is induced thereat. The bending stress sufficiently weakens the top of the cap so that it yields to the tension thereacross to release the flange from the bottle in the manner previously described.

What is claimed is:

l. A crown cap comprising a top wall and depending peripheral flange, said top wall having a pleated section formed therein, said pleated section including a top portion and side wall structure integrally connecting said top portion to the top wall of the cap, said side wall structure including oppositely inclined portions which are reentrant relative to said top portion and are inclined at an angle of substantially less than 45 to said top wall and to said top section.

2. A crown cap comprising a top wall and depending flange, said top wall having a pleated section extending longitudinally along a diameter thereof, said pleated section including an upper portion and opposed folded re entrant portions extending inwardly and substantially equidistantly under said upper portion from each of the longitudinal side edges thereof at an angle of approximately less than 45 to said top wall, the inner edges of said reentrant portions being in adjacent relation.

3. A crown cap comprising a top wall and depending corrugated flange, said top wall having a pleated section extending across a diameter thereof, said pleated section including a substantially flat upper portion tapered to substantially a point at a location on said diameter, said upper portion upwardly inclined from the point and terminating at a location outwardly and upwardly spaced from a diametrically opposed portion of the flange, and oppositely inclined side portions merging with the opposite sides of said upper portion and with the top wall to define respective reentrant bends therebetween.

4. A crown cap comprising a top wall and depending corrugated flange, said top wall having a diametrically aligned triangular aperture therein and a part extending radially outward from the anex of the aperture through the top wall and flange, said top wall having a pleated section including a rectangular upper portion coterminous with the top wall at the base of said aperture and upwardly inclined therefrom in overlying relation to the aperture and part, and oppositely inclined side portions respectively merging with the top wall at the opposite edges of said aperture and part and merging with said upper portion to define respective reentrant bends therebetween.

5. A crown cap according to claim 4, further defined by the reentrant bends between said side portions and upper portion including upright reenforcing portions.

6. A crown cap comprising a top wall, a corrugated flange peripherally depending from said top wall, said top wall and flange having a part extending diametrically therethrough to inner termination at a location of said top wall spaced slightly inward from the flange, and a pleated section including a flat tapered upper portion merging at its point with said top wall at the inner termination of said part and upwardly inclined therefrom in overlying relation to the part with reentrant side portions oppositely inclined from the side edges of said upper portion and respectively merging with the portions of said top wall on opposite sides of said part.

7. A crown cap according to claim 6 further defined by the flange having a cut-away portion at the outer ter mination of said part, and the upper portion of said pleated section having a depending lever arm disposed within the cut-away portion of said flange in coextensive relation therewith.

8. A crown cap according to claim 6, further defined by said top wall having protuberances' formed therein in underlying relation to the side portions of said pleated section to limit depression thereof.

9. A crown cap comprising a top wall and depending peripheral flange, said top wall having a pleated section, said pleated section including a top portion disposed in parallelism with said top wall and side wall structure ineluding oppositely inclined reentrant pleat portions merging with said top portion and top wall and extending at an angle of less than 45 to said top wall and top portion between the juncture thereof with such top wall and the top portion.

10. A crown cap according to claim 9, further defined by said top portion being of substantially Y-shaped configuration, said side wall structure including vertical walls merging with said top wall and said top portion at the end edges of its split legs and along the interior reentrant side edges thereof to their mutual intersection, said reentrant pleat portions being disposed along the outer side edges of the split legs of said upper portion.

11. A crown cap according to claim 10, wherein said vertical walls at said end edges of said split legs and at the mutual intersection of the interior side edges thereof are disposed on a circle having a diameter substantially equal to the mean diameter of the crown of a bottle.

12. A crown cap comprising a top wall and peripheral flange, said top wall having a pleated section, said pleated section including a substantially Y-shaped upper portion including split legs merging into a base, said upper portion disposed in parallelism with said top wall, said base downwardly turned intermediate its length to define a vertically extending lever tab extending through a cut-out portion of said flange, said tab curved in conformity with said flange and having a lower edge in the same plane as the lower edge of the flange, vertical side walls merging with said top Wall and merging with said upper portion along the end edges of its split legs and the inner reentrant side edges thereof, said vertical side walls merging at the common intersection of said inner side edges of said split legs, and pleated side walls including diagonal bend lines, said pleated side walls oppositely reentrantly inclined from the outer side edges of said split legs to said diagonal bend lines, said pleated side walls extending vertically downward from said bend lines to merge with said top wall, said pleated side walls merging with each other at a position beneath the base of said upper portion.

13. A crown cap according to claim 12, wherein the vertical walls at the ends of said split legs and common intersection of the inner edges thereof are disposed on a circle having a diameter substantially equal to the mean diameter of the crown of a bottle.

14. A crown cap comprising a top wall and depending peripheral flange, said top wall having an elongated pleated section integrally formed therein, said top wall also having an elongated opening registering with said pleated section, said pleated section including a top portion disposed in bridging relation to said opening and a side wall structure connecting the side edges of said top portion with said top wall at the sides of said opening, said side wall structure comprising opposed portions each extending inwardly in substantially close relationship to said top wall in a substantially straight line from said side edges of the top portion to the juncture of said structure with the top wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS France July 3, 1959 

1. A CROWN CAP COMPRISING A TOP WALL AND DEPENDING PERIPHERAL FLANGE, SAID TOP WALL HAVING A PLEATED SECTION FORMED THEREIN, SAID PLEATED SECTION INCLUDING A TOP PORTION AND SIDE WALL STRUCTURE INTEGRALLY CONNECTING SAID TOP PORTION TO THE TOP WALL OF THE CAP, SAID SIDE WALL STRUCTURE INCLUDING OPPOSITELY INCLINED PORTIONS WHICH ARE REENTRANT RELATIVE TO SAID TOP PORTION AND ARE INCLINED AT AN ANGLE 